spiritrockjohn, Ok John, I had a closer look at what you posted and now understand your situation. I have collected the material from 10-day courses (S.N.Goenka) and know that the material is very wet compared to normal household stuff. You need to have a lot of browns - straw, leaves, sawdust, and other garden refuse to compensate. It will be a job to collect enough for your composting. Your guide of 50:50 kitchen waste to brown is too shy on browns. I am assuming that you are talking volume ratios. A better mix should aim for 60% to 70% browns by volume. The C:N ratio of 30:1 for example is based on dry weights. Your food stuffs is a lot heavier than the rice straw you are adding even without the water. As you may have found, you need to turn the pile frequently to prevent it going anaerobic. The wood chips are not going to compost very much but are a good bulking agent to aid the aerobic process. Screen the wood chips out after each batch and they can be reused. I am providing a link to compost bin construction. These bins can be made from salvaged pallets and so will be quite reasonable in price. By having a floor that is off the ground, rats should not have access to the bins. You will also have to have a lid. This bins do not keep out mice though. Some centres have composted materials; some centres have others collect it for off site composting; other centres give it to local farm families to feed pigs. Those may be some considerations if you cannot get a handle on the composting. With metta. Here is a link that might be useful: Wooden Compost Bins

So where does the red thread end up--is it under the bottom? Did you thread with the foot raised so the thread can go into the tension disks? And lower the foot before stitching? It has almost always been that when the problem is on top, it originates with the bobbin, and vice versa. Looks maybe like you don't have the bobbin thread thru it's tension guide. Otherwise, change weight of bottom thread and try different design (it could 'possibly' be corrupted design)...but I don't think so. Let us know what you are trying.

I like the idea of making stuff out of junk - but I agree that putting it back is a horrible idea. They made a bar out of something (old console tv I think) and took it back - complete with keg fridge and tap. It looked neat (a little too gaudy to put in my own home, but it was cool) But all I could think of is what if these people are Baptists (or some other non-drinking religion) or worse, recovering alcoholics?? They know NOTHING about the people and they're spending all this time and money creating something that the people may actually HATE. It'd be better if they sold the new stuff at a flea market and just gave the old owners a snapshot of the new thing.

When I was taking some training last year, the place had a "Walk across Texas" challenge. Each team would walk where they wanted, but kept track of the miles. On check in day, they would post their miles and "travel" across the state. One of the teams was really into it, so when they "walked" from Dallas to Ft Worth (for example) they got a little "tourist guide" the captain made them. Every so many miles they had their break time snack provided (something healthy) At the end of the "walk" that team at least, was going to go out for a special meal. Other teams were not as creative or into it, so just logged their miles. If your company would allow it, a massage therapist to come in and give chair massages, or others with the types of infor that could benifit folks working in your environment.